Open orthopaedic surgery simulator based on artificial intelligence launched in India

Doctors say the technology is best suited for Indian conditions where the doctor patient ratio is one of the lowest across the world.

The AI-based simulator will be used in spine surgeries, knee surgeries, on basic healing, trauma and other kind of surgeries, says MedAchievers MD, Dr Harsha Vardhan. (Representational Image)

An ‘open orthopaedic surgery simulator’ based on artificial intelligence has been launched in the country to offer hands-on training to young medical graduates and give them an experience similar to that of an operation theatre without risking lives of patients. Doctors said the technology is best suited for Indian conditions where the doctor-patient ratio is one of the lowest across the world and will help create an environment where experienced hands only perform surgeries.

Launched by MedAchievers Academic Council (a global initiative of MedAchievers) and Labindia Healthcare, the technology will be available at some medical colleges at undergraduate and post-graduate levels across India. “The AI-based simulator will be used in spine surgeries, knee surgeries, on basic healing, trauma and other kind of surgeries. The move will definitely help save millions of lives that unfortunately are lost due to lack of trained pool of doctors in specific domain,” Dr Harsha Vardhan, Founder and Managing Director of MedAchievers said.

Dr Vardhan said that in India, cases of spinal injuries, trauma and similar conditions are very much prevalent and “we need to insure hands-on training with continuous update and upgrade without hurting patients. With such technologies, we are able to achieve proficiency in respective domain and eventually increasing pool of trained doctors.”

The company has also launched similar simulators in genomics. The Open Surgery Simulator provides the necessary practical environment that enables doctors to see the results in the same fashion as they can see in the real world while conducting the surgery thus helping them in real-world preparedness without hurting patients. It can also help medical experts assess their improvement in performing surgeries as it has real-time tools to create needed set of performance indicators, Dr Vardhan said.

“Open Surgery Simulator brings multiple benefits in healthcare delivery. First and foremost, it will create an environment where experienced hands only perform surgeries on patients,” said Dr Rahul Bhargava, Director, Haematology and Stem Cell transplant, Fortis Memorial Research Institute.’

He said the technology will go a long way in assisting doctors in critical orthopaedic surgeries even in smaller cities of India. Above all, a practicing doctor can assess her/his improvement with time, he said.

According to Dr R K Pandey, Member, National Executive Committee, Indian Medical Association (IMA), the technology is best suited for Indian conditions where the doctor-patient ratio is one of the lowest across the world. “The technology will provide enough opportunity to young doctors to get trained in conditions that are remarkably similar to operation theatres. Once these trained and confident doctors start performing surgeries, results will speak for themselves,” Pandey said.

“With open surgery simulator, we can easily enhance baseline skills of surgeons. Orthopaedics is a complex domain and needs specialized training for upgrading skills. It will enable our doctors and surgeons to see real surgeries virtually and help them perform better. However, I feel that there is an urgent need to scale up the technology as many hospital and medical colleges as possible.

“The training needs to be imparted to young medical practitioners at college level itself. Now with introduction of the technology, I am very hopeful that the AI- driven simulator will bring in revolutionary changes in dealing with knee and spine surgeries,” said Dr Aashish Chaudhry, MD and HOD Orthopaedics and Joint Replacement, Aakash Healthcare Super Specialty Hospital.